Chapter 239 Being an Animal

“I now feel more and more that what Taozi said makes sense. This shabby place is actually not that good.” Xie Hushan, shirtless and wearing a newspaper hat on his sweaty head, stood on the escalator and brushed the wall with a roller brush:

“It’s only a few months ago, but it’s as hot as a steamer. If the air-conditioning is not turned on in the room, it feels like a sauna.”

Han Hongbing’s image was not much better than his. He was wearing a vest and shorts, and a newspaper hat. He was standing on another escalator, painting the roof. When he heard Xie Hushan complain, he stopped his work and took a look:
“That’s too much, Commander Xie. You’ve been standing there for half an hour, and the wall you painted is not even as big as your butt.”

This is the address of the Zhongping Hong Kong Island branch that Han Hongbing and Xie Hushan are looking for.

In fact, it is an old-style arcade on Pengcheng Street in Ma Tau Kok, Kowloon. They rented three adjacent apartments. After the walls were painted and filled with bunk beds, it could provide a place for about 20 to 30 people to stay at night.

In fact, Xie Hushan still felt that the environment was too harsh. However, Accountant Zhao and Han Laoer agreed that a hard and simple life was the right thing. Everyone did not come to Hong Kong Island to enjoy themselves. If they wanted to enjoy themselves, they had to rely on their own abilities. The Zhongping Brigade represented by Captain Xie could pay to ensure that everyone had a place to live and food to eat in the early stages of their arrival in Hong Kong.

“The rent is indeed much cheaper than that of Lam Tin in Shek Kip Mei. You will have to work hard, brothers. This place is a bit far from the factory area.” Xie Hushan took the opportunity to stop the work in his hands, took out a cigarette, looked at the difficult job he was doing, and sighed.

Han Hongbing said: “When the time comes, everyone will get a bicycle and pedal!”

Accountant Zhao, who was cleaning up on the floor, also agreed and said, “That’s right. There are so many good houses there. Are they for them to live in? Let’s not talk about anything else. Just two days ago, Hu Saner took me to the place where he had an IUD done. He said that all the houses there were…”

“Accountant Zhao! Uncle Zhao! Where? Where did you go the past two days?” Han Hongbing was stunned at first, then grinned and asked loudly to Accountant Zhao.

Accountant Zhao straightened up and pointed at Xie Hushan: “Just two days ago, Hu Saner took me to the place where he got the IUD inserted.”

Taozi and Lin the translator had just brought back some cold drinks. At this moment, each of them was holding a cup of iced milk tea and drinking it with a straw. When they walked in, they happened to hear Accountant Zhao’s question, and they both spat out the drinks in their mouths at the same time.

Taozi choked and coughed repeatedly, her face turning red. She looked at Xie Hushan, whose brain had crashed and who was standing motionless on the escalator.

Translator Lin smiled and leaned his upper body on Taozi’s shoulder, and his whole body couldn’t help shaking.

Han Hongbing laughed so hard that he stepped down from the ladder, threw away the roller brush, and held onto the ladder while still leaning forward and laughing wildly:

“The commander’s treatment is different. Ordinary women can only get an IUD in the village clinic. How can a party-state commander like Commander Xie get an IUD in a socialist hospital? That’s absolutely not possible. He must come to Hong Kong Island, a capitalist society, to get an IUD!”

Xie Hushan choked on the cigarette, coughed and looked at Accountant Zhao:
“The place I’m taking you to is called Sheung Huan, not the place where I go to get my IUD done, my living father, Zhao Zuzong! The place is called Sheung Huan! No… Sheung Huan! Don’t add the erhua sound randomly! This is what you guys did to me. I don’t even have a child yet, and I came all the way to Hong Kong Island to get contraception!”

“It’s almost the same, almost the same. It’s the same no matter where you go.” Accountant Zhao laughed and said, “You’re right. What kind of good person would name the place where he lives like this? He wouldn’t be afraid of affecting his descendants.”

The footsteps sounded again, and Xuanzi came in from outside, sweating profusely. He just heard what Accountant Zhao said. He greeted Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing, thought for a moment and said:
“My family has IUDs, and I am still single at my old age. I think this name is bad for feng shui, which is probably true.”

A group of people couldn’t help laughing when they heard that he could actually talk to Accountant Zhao and even joke with him. Han Hongbing took a bottle of cold drink handed to him by Translator Lin and took a gulp. Then he breathed out the cold air and joked comfortably:

“Brother, you are worrying too much. When there is a chance, I will take you back to Zhongping. I tell you, because of your status as a Hong Kong businessman, I can help you pick any one in the old Han family. There is only one problem. There are many relatives on her side of the family. You just need to be careful when talking to your wife. Of course, you don’t need to be too polite. After all, she is your wife. Being too polite will make you seem distant. Just…just treat me and Commander Xie the same way. I guarantee that you two will live together forever.”

“The same way to you and Brother Shan? Hey, every time I see you and Brother Shan, I want to kneel down and talk to you, for fear that if we have a disagreement, you will just find some tools to make guns and take me in.” When Xuanzi heard that Han Hongbing wanted to help him introduce a girlfriend, he immediately shook his head.

Taozi first handed Xuanzi a bottle of soda, and then gave another to Xie Hushan. Xie Hushan took a sip of soda and asked Xuanzi, “Why did you find time to come here? Aren’t you in Yangcheng and Pengcheng ready to move at any time?”

“Thank you, Auntie.” Xuanzi took the soda, bit the straw and smiled:

“Nothing, actually Brother Bao asked me to inform you, Brother Shan, that there is a business opportunity. There is an American guy. I don’t know if he was blinded by evil spirits, but he actually took the bait. He wants 400,000 T-shirts. 400,000!”

Accountant Zhao was completely dumbfounded when he heard this. Translator Lin also smiled. Although she thought that someone would definitely take the bait if Xie Hushan offered something for nothing, she didn’t expect such a big order to come right away. At this time, she looked at Han Hongbing.

What does 400,000 T-shirts mean? Perhaps only Han Hongbing, who has been working in a garment factory, knows best among those present.

After hearing this, Han Lao Er didn’t look excited at all, and said lightly:

“If the style is fixed, in Hong Kong Island, according to the garment factory where I work, there are more than 80 workers, sufficient raw materials, and all the machines are running. Not counting overtime, and only working for 12 hours, we can produce 4,000 to 5,000 pieces a day. 400,000 pieces can be completed in three months at most…”

“That’s not a small amount, but… why are you the one who informed me, and why didn’t Old Yang and the fourth girl tell me?” After listening to Han Hongbing’s words, Xie Hushan looked at Xuanzi again, a little confused.

There was a business deal in Zhongping, it should be Han Hongzhen or Yang Liming who called him. He talked to Yang Liming every night. Yang Liming didn’t tell him about this last night, which meant it happened today. So he could just wait for the phone call to tell him in the evening. Why bother sending someone to make a trip? And from what Xuanzai said, it was Dabao who asked him to come.

“Brother Bao asked me to tell you, Brother Shan, that the foreigner is not prepared to pay. He has no money at all. He wants to get something for nothing. Let him learn your trick, Brother Shan.” Xuanzi inserted the straw into the bottle, took a deep sip and said.

“Then why are you here to talk about Der… I’m not saying anything bad about you, brother, you need to treat your brain, you can’t delay…” After hearing what Xuanzi said, Han Hongbing glared at him:
“You and Brother Bao are used to seeing all kinds of foreigners in Hong Kong Island. You know what kind of people there are. Just send them away. Old Yang and Fourth Sister are both from the countryside. It’s understandable that they don’t understand the situation. Why are you wasting your time now? Just send them away politely.”

During his time in Hong Kong, Han Hongbing had seen many foreigners and found that not all foreigners were rich. There were a lot of poor foreigners in Hong Kong. His co-workers had taken him to see them. He saw several foreigners spend money to buy a bottle of beer, and then stand at the door of the bar leaning against the street light to drink for four o’clock…

He is even worse off than the drunkards in Zhongping Village. At least when he drinks the roadside wine, he can take out a few broad beans or half a piece of tofu to go with it. Without any side dishes, the drunkards are unwilling to drink the roadside wine alone, thinking it is too bland.

“But Secretary Yang and Fourth Sister are in charge and it seems that they want to do business with him. Brother Bao and I have tried to persuade him several times, but Secretary Yang seems unwilling to listen. So Brother Bao asked me to come and see Brother Shan to inform him, okay… don’t do business with him. If you really get cheated, it will be no small matter.” Xuanzi looked at Xie Hushan and said.

Han Hongbing jumped down from the ladder and wiped the sweat off his face with his vest. “Why don’t we go back? Old Yang and Fourth Sister have never seen a foreigner. What if they think that all foreign businessmen are good people and get cheated again?”

“Yes, yes, there’s nothing to worry about here. If things don’t work out, let’s go back and avoid any more trouble.” Accountant Zhao also spoke up.

Xie Hushan looked at Xuanzi, then at Han Hongbing: “Just because Lao Yang has never seen a foreigner doesn’t mean he is stupid. That guy is more slippery than me. He is not the kind of thief who can’t move when he sees meat.”

Xie Hushan stared at Xuanzi, and Xuanzi immediately felt that the Coke in his hand didn’t taste good anymore, and subconsciously straightened his body.

“If you haven’t finished speaking, hurry up and finish it, big brother.” Xie Hushan raised his chin towards Xuanzi.

“It’s not that the foreigner is unwilling to pay. He actually wants to provide Zhongping with the raw materials and machines for the production of T-shirts in the early stage…” Xuanzi lowered his voice and said in a low voice with his head down.

Before he finished speaking, Xie Hushan had already spoken to Han Hongbing: “I see, about the compensation trade, Brother Bao couldn’t understand it, and felt that Lao Yang was sorry for talking to a foreigner about business like this, and he had no relationship with Lao Yang, so he asked Xuanzi to come to us.”

“What is compensatory trade?” Han Hongbing looked confused.

“The Russians fought us many times in the past,” Xie Hushan reminded.

“Fuck! Are you talking about the old Russians’ tactics during the Korean War? They gave our country weapons and encouraged us to fight the United States behind our backs. They themselves refused to do it, but after the war, they came to our door with IOUs to collect the debt. The country later tightened its belt to pay off the debt, and it was not until 64 that it was paid off.” Han Hongbing started talking before Xie Hushan finished. He had received militia training since he was a child, and he was always ready for the Russians to go south. He really didn’t like the old Russians:
“What’s going on? This American guy is going to give us machinery and equipment, and then let us owe him. Then we will keep working for him for free? Who the hell will work for him then?” “It has to be consensual. But let’s put it aside for now. Let’s talk about our brother Xuanzai’s loyalty. I guess he and brother Bao have always felt that if our village really wants to build a garment factory, we must go through Comrade Zhu Youjun to purchase second-hand equipment. Brother Bao and Comrade Zhu still have a comradeship. After all, they have fought together for so long, and they definitely don’t want the sale of dozens or hundreds of garment looms to benefit outsiders.” Xie Hushan looked at Xuanzai and said:
“Do you think that Zhu Youjun followed my instructions and specially helped Zhongping to find a batch of second-hand cameras, but in the end Zhongping wanted to shrug her off and talk business with foreigners. This is very disloyal?”

“Brother Shan, you know me and Brother Bao. We admire you and my second brother very much. But after you and my second brother left, it was all thanks to Sister Yan’er who took care of Sister Juli, Brother Bao and me.” Xuanzi mustered up the courage to look at Xie Hushan. Seeing that he didn’t look like he was going to get angry with him, he spoke frankly:
“Sister Yan’er took out the capital to lead everyone to start a small business. She has never refused anything you asked her to do. You asked Brother Bao to take time out to help you, and she didn’t object. You asked Lin the translator to help get the second brother and those people out, and she has always supported it. She is very happy that you came to Yangcheng this time. She put down her own business to accompany you… People should be loyal… Sister Yan’er is doing second-hand business. She has helped to keep an eye out for machines before, and she doesn’t plan to make money from the villagers. Now that Zhongping has business, of course she will take care of her own people. I don’t understand why she must take care of the foreigners. Brother Bao doesn’t understand either. So seeing that Secretary Yang insisted on cooperating with the other party, he sent me to report the news. I hope Brother Shan can be fair.”

Seeing that Xuanzi was afraid of being beaten but still insisted on speaking his mind, Han Hongbing immediately looked at his elder brother with new eyes. He walked over, patted Xuanzi on the shoulder, and said to Xie Hushan:
“Comrade Zhu is great. In just over a year, she has trained our Brother Xuan to be loyal. Who says she is incompetent? I am the first to object. Comrade Zhu is not a good comrade who values ​​friendship. Can our Brother Xuan speak up for her like this?”

Xuanzi was so scared that he hugged his head. He thought Han Hongbing was coming over and raising his hand to hit him, but when he saw that Han Hongbing didn’t hit him, he felt more confident: “Brother Shan, we have nothing to say to you, so you can’t do this?”

Seeing Xuanzi’s loyalty and righteousness being exposed, Xie Hushan sighed, not knowing what to say. As a result, he turned his head and saw Lin the translator talking to Taozi in a low voice, as if he didn’t hear what Xuanzi had just said.

“Translator Lin, Comrade Zhu treats you well, why didn’t you agree with him just now? Didn’t you see that my elder brother Xuanzi advised me to be fair and not to cooperate with the foreign devils?”

Lin Meiyang looked at Xuanzi and smiled: “You are the commander, and we are all your subordinates. Even if you want to take advantage of us, you will not attack your subordinates. The people in Zhongping are your brothers and family, and so are the few of us. It doesn’t make sense that the members of the Zhongping Hong Kong Island branch must be outsiders, right?”

“Did you hear me? Did you hear me? What does it mean to be awakened? Otherwise, Lin the translator earns more every month than you two. You two are just fools. You are lucky enough to borrow money at high interest rates to take me in as your younger brother. If it weren’t for me and Han Lao Er, you two would have no choice but to eat overnight shit.” After listening to Lin the translator’s words, Xie Hushan scolded Xuanzi:
“Do you think the foreigners will go to the United States to purchase brand new equipment and ship it across the ocean to Zhongping? You are foolish. Don’t worry, the second-hand machine business will definitely belong to Comrade Zhu. He will not run away.”

“No, Secretary Yang has agreed to let the foreigner provide the machine… If the foreigner doesn’t want Sister Yan’er’s machine, we can’t force him to accept it when the time comes, right?” Xuanzi said in a firm tone.

“Drag this fool out and translate for him alone.” Xie Hushan said weakly to Lin the translator.

Translator Lin smiled and led Xuanzi aside, whispering, “Commander Xie will definitely be able to force him to accept the goods. Yan’er herself didn’t say anything, so why did you jump out?”

“I rely on Sister Yan’er for food. She’s the boss of the rice team, and I rely on her for food.” Xuanzi said with his eyes wide open.

“Yan’er would like Commander Xie to owe her something. Don’t worry. Commander Xie has always been fair except for the first time he met you. You don’t believe Secretary Yang, but do you believe me?” Seeing Xuanzi’s insistence, translator Lin asked with a smile.

Xuanzi nodded: “I believe you.”

“If you trust me, shut up.” Translator Lin stretched out his hand and made a hushing gesture.

Xie Hushan drank the soda, lit another cigarette, and put it in his mouth. After thinking for a while, he said to Han Hongbing:
“I guess Lao Yang can talk to the other party because he has seen the truth. Maybe I will have to withdraw to Zhongping tomorrow to set up a framework. Zhu Youjun will be responsible for the machine, and you will be responsible for the raw materials. If I am not mistaken, the foreigner also wants to get something for nothing. He would rather provide the machine raw materials in the mainland than to outsource 400,000 T-shirts to Hong Kong Island. This foreigner may be desperate and want to make a big profit. Please arrange the train or plane tickets for me, Taozi, and Accountant Zhao. Contact us by telegram at any time. After I go back, I will select 20 to 30 of the more than 200 militiamen to help you as soon as possible.”

Han Hongbing nodded: “The raw materials should be fine. Hong Kong Island has all kinds of fabrics. I have learned a lot from these few months of work. If the other party is not satisfied with Hong Kong Island’s lowest price, he won’t be able to find a cheaper price, even if he goes to Italy in Europe.”

“Okay, you’ve become more capable. It turns out that in Zhongping, how would you know where Italy is?” Xie Hushan smiled.

……

After Xie Hushan returned to the hotel in the evening, Yang Liming called him, and the call was similar to what Xie Hushan had guessed before.

An American businessman named Frank Wood from Philadelphia, whose family’s ancestral clothing business had previously relied on making uniforms and ball uniforms for teams in American sports leagues, owned two garment factories in the eastern United States, seven retail clothing stores, and a large number of uniform orders for various teams during its peak period before the Great Depression.

However, the various sports leagues in the United States are becoming more and more standardized and have taken back the power of the clubs. Now the uniforms of each club and the team uniforms are customized by the league. He cannot compete with the big clothing manufacturers who rely on producing ordinary casual sportswear, nor can he compete with those clothing manufacturers who rely on imports. The cost of opening factories in the United States is too high.

A T-shirt of the same quality, produced in Hong Kong Island, labeled and shipped to the United States, is sold for 5.9 yuan, leaving enough profit.

However, the 5.9 yuan he spends to produce a T-shirt in the United States is not enough to cover the labor costs.

The other party also thought about simply closing the factory, retaining only the sales channels, and looking for OEM factories in Hong Kong Island to produce. However, the United States has implemented a quota system for clothing imports and exports for many years. The amount of clothing that can be imported from Hong Kong Island and Italy each year has long been controlled by several major clothing companies.

The lack of a quota means that even if he manufactures products in Hong Kong and pays taxes legally, he cannot sell the products to the United States, on the grounds of protecting American clothing companies.

But large clothing companies do not need American protection at all. No large companies have built factories in the United States. They all outsource their products to garment factories in Hong Kong. Therefore, this agreement is more like the U.S. government colluding with large companies to jointly force these small companies to death.

With nowhere else to turn, he saw news about China’s reform and opening up being broadcast in the United States on TV, and also received leaflets promoting the Canton Fair in Chinatown.

After consulting a professional lawyer and confirming again and again, he found that he seemed to have found a bug. That is, although the United States has established diplomatic relations with China, it has not signed a clothing import and export agreement with mainland China. In other words, if he can produce T-shirts on a OEM basis in mainland China, it means that he is not subject to quota restrictions. As long as he pays taxes, he can sell as much as he wants.

He was the first to try something new.

He also discovered that a culture called hip-hop is popular in the United States. It started with music, but in the past two years has developed into clothing and makeup, especially T-shirts with hip-hop style patterns, which are very popular among black people. He wants to use this bug to seize the low-end black market, sell T-shirts with fancy prints to those black people, and create a hip-hop style black civilian clothing brand.

There are no clothing companies entering this market in a big way now, so he still has a chance to make a comeback with black hip-hop clothing.

Frank spent two days at the Canton Fair, and other companies all expressed their willingness to cooperate, but they did not agree to have all their workshops do production for him, and only guaranteed delivery on the date agreed in the contract.

But what Frank thought was that there was no final agreed date, the sooner the better. If he wanted the factory to work at full capacity to help him produce, the only way to cooperate was through compensation transaction.

He provided the machines and raw materials to help rebuild a factory, and the factory naturally operated at full capacity for him.

“How about you talk to him?” Xie Hushan asked after listening to Yang Liming’s introduction.

Yang Limin said clearly, “This foreign businessman has prepared $100,000 now. What he means is that $100,000 is all he can take out. He can take it all out for a gamble and use the money to buy equipment and raw materials to help us build a factory. But we must also help him send back 100,000 T-shirts as soon as possible after the factory is built. If he opens up the market when he returns, we will continue to expand production. If he fails, the $100,000 used to build the factory for us will be considered a gift, and we don’t need to produce the subsequent 300,000 pieces. But if he succeeds, we will continue to cooperate. If we cannot produce 400,000 pieces for him before Christmas this year, which will delay his business layout, we will have to compensate him for the loss of breach of contract.”

“What do you think of the other party’s first impression?” Xie Hushan did not rush to express his opinion, but continued to ask.

Yang Limin said: “This person is very sincere and direct. When he learned that Zhongping was originally planning to purchase equipment, he took the initiative to say that he could pay directly and we would be responsible for purchasing raw materials and equipment. As long as the quality of the products in the contract is guaranteed, in a word, he is anxious. He is anxious to use the products to grab market share.”

“If I ask Chief of Staff Han to find a OEM factory in Hong Kong Island to produce the products first, and then ship them to the United States via Zhongping, I can ensure that the whole thing will be seamless. As for the price…” Xie Hushan casually came up with a clever idea.

“No, Americans are very cautious. I tried to test him with similar words, and he rejected me seriously. He said that he was not going to do illegal business, and that he was a family business doing legal business. He also advised me not to do this with others. He believed that the big American clothing brands and the US government were taking this kind of thing very seriously, and if he was found out, he would have no chance of recovering. Legitimate businessmen only make money within the rules.” Yang Liming said with certainty.

After listening to Yang Limin’s description, Xie Hushan nodded slightly: “Have you been given a sweet treat? If you are in such a hurry, you need to feed the livestock with night grass.”

“I introduced to him the speed of establishment of other factories in our brigade. I said that after the exhibition, he could go to Bingyang with me and Minister Jiao for a site visit. By then, the factory building should have been built and the equipment should be in place. He was willing to write a regular check of 50,000 US dollars. If he saw the factory building on that day, he could withdraw the 50,000 US dollars as payment for the initial cost of Zhongping.”

After hearing this, Xie Hushan let out a long sigh: “Do his business, don’t say I’m a white wolf who got foreign guests for nothing. Tomorrow I will arrange everything here and go back to Zhongping to be a beast and earn US dollars!”

(End of this chapter)